Dare for a Confession
by Pretenders
Summary: Lucy's mischievous plan to capture Schroeder's attention, with the help of Charlie Brown, ends as a painful moment of confessions. Independent Plot, and is not based off any comic strips (AU). No foul language.


_**Thank-you for noticing this story**_

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**Dare for a Confession**

"So, what does he do?"

Her white, black toed shoes touched each other at the tips as she resembled a cute pose. Her hands came to her front to intertwine with each other once she released her lips she lightly bit on after she finished thinking. In front of her were nothing but plain walls, and a blonde young man beside his piano. His stripped shirt became a bit wrinkled after he scrunched up the ends of it in his hands. She knew he was nervous, and also knew exactly why.

Earlier that month, she ran to Charlie Brown's home once she thought up a devious plan. She noticed that Schroeder had ignored her for a whole week, even having his parents purchase a lock for his room door to keep her out as he practiced. This angered her to such an extent that Lucy almost decided to move on, but then she saw Charlie Brown out with Linus one innocent morning, and covered her young features with an evil smirk.

Instead of moving on, she thought, why not just make him like her back. It would be painless and Charlie Brown was a perfect young man to fool. She started by pushing the ends of her curled hair upward like a woman who had pose to show off. Talking to Charlie Brown was easy, although the flirtatious remarks were corny and obvious. Just as she planned, however, Charlie Brown did not give a second thought about her "attraction" for him, but did not come to likings with her the way she thought he would.

She kept her insults to herself before giving Charlie Brown a friendly hug, making sure to compliment the great strength baseball has given him. He looked confused, though he did not hide his colored cheeks from expressing his embarrassment and gratitude. By the end of the day, Charlie Brown seemed to fall for Lucy's every advance. Linus was suspicious, appalled, and disgusted by Lucy's interactions with Charlie Brown; he thought Lucy had a new daily joke to play on him besides taking his football away, but he gave up on giving any other reason besides the fact that she may just have fallen for his best friend.

"He plays baseball, and he does his homework." Her smile widened, and she thought of anyone but Charlie Brown as she said this. Her blonde haired crush came into her thoughts and his image encouraged her blush.

Linus made sure to talk to Lucy after a taken Charlie Brown left. She continued to act swept off her feet before going to bed once she pretended to answer all of Linus' questions with great acting skills. Her facade managed to make Linus, and Charlie Brown believe she truly meant every word said; she smiled, knowing Schroeder would, too.

"I know that growing up makes us change...and I don't think I've changed at all, but," he closed his eyes in an emotional moment, looking down to hide himself from Lucy's sight. He opened his eyes to let out the tears, seeing through blurred vision that her feet were now plainly beside each other, and her arms dropped to her sides, "I loved you enough to keep myself from hating my friend."

He harbored the motivation to look her straight in the eye, and never felt his dignity weaken. She had wrinkles in between her eyebrows as she pulled them together. He placed a hand upon his piano, leaning on his side before wiping his eyes with his free hand.

"Charlie Brown always talked about you in elementary, after that little red haired girl moved. And he talked about you up until we realized girls meant much more than just friends. I realized so much more about you, Lucy. I realized so much that I couldn't see you anymore. I needed to keep you out and focus on my piano... I needed a new muse, Lucy, so I locked you out to find one."

"You locked me out to keep me away!"

"I locked you out to stop focusing on you! Every time you're in here, I find myself playing wonderfully because I know you're there, the prettiest girl I've ever met, is leaning on my piano! I played for you, because of you! I never thought there'd be a day when you wouldn't lean against my piano for me."

"You locked me out, I couldn't come in here. Charlie Brown is more accepting than you are! And he doesn't make me think about his feelings!"

"I get it, Lucy."

"No, you don't. You don't get anything. You don't get how many times I tried to get you to look at me as a stupid girl; you don't get how many times you ignored me as a stupid girl; you don't get how many times you hurt me by pulling your piano out from underneath me, as a stupid girl; you don't get how in love I was with you as a stupid girl because I didn't know any better!"

"I wanted nothing to do with love. Beethoven did not love, he had many women! But I don't want women, I just want one."

Lucy thought back at the memories she kept of her love of Schroeder. She then noticed how she compared Schroeder to Charlie Brown, making it seem as if Charlie Brown had the upper hand over her heart. She bit her lip at the realization that Charlie Brown had his own abilities to him, just as good as Schroeder. Her hand came up to cover her slightly opened mouth as she became aware of what her fake feelings for Charlie Brown turned into.

"I just want—"

Before Schroeder could finish, Lucy pushed him back, running out the door and out from his sight. She ran in her own storm, as her tears fell out from her eyes. They made her vision foggy, and all she could make out was the green grass of front lawns, and the grey pavement that she ran on. A sudden color of yellow came into her view as she ran into the warm body. Soft arms wrapped themselves around her torso, catching her and embracing her at the same time. They pushed her softly to balance herself on her own feet.

"Lucy, why are you crying?"

That soft voice made her look up quickly. She couldn't see his face clearly, but she could see the tip of his nose a bit red. It was not cold outside, and neither hot. She fell back into his arms, hoping for his comfort, but was shocked when he grabbed her gently by her shoulders to push her out of his arms.

"I'm crying... I'm crying..." She couldn't speak after his actions.

"Lucy, I don't know if we cried for the same reasons,"

She made a gasp that sounded like a sob, and Charlie Brown made no flinch to it as he continued.

"But I was headed to your house to tell you that I know everything."

Her heart pounded in her chest, from her running and her worry that the knowledge he had may be about her pretend feelings to get Schroeder's attention. "You know what?"

"You passed your house," he avoided responding to her question, "I'll walk you to it." He pressed a hand against her back, signaling her to walk back the way she came. She followed by his side, wiping her tears with the collar of her dress. Her vision did not clear completely, but she could see the view in front of her clear enough.

Charlie Brown spoke beside her, "Sally told me everything after school ended. She said she overheard you talking about Schroeder, and how much of a fool I am."

She hiccuped and sobbed at his discipline to speak to her softly, despite what he knows.

"I kinda saw this coming, Lucy, I just honestly thought you may have really liked me."

She stopped to turn to her side to look at him, "I do like you, Charlie Brown. You're not a fool, and the only fool is me. I've made the biggest mistake, I don't know what to do."

"I'm sure you'll know what to do. You're great at fooling others, so you can pretend to solve your mistakes and look happy."

She felt her heart sink as her eyes widened.

"Have a good night, Lucy."

She watched him turn the other way around to walk back to his home, before she sulked into her own. Linus was eating popcorn as he lounged on the sofa to watch a movie. He looked up to see Lucy's facial damage from tears, and her quivering bottom lip. He sighed, holding back from telling her something he would regret. He looked back to the television, keeping his mind off his sister as he ate popcorn.

Lucy collapsed onto her bed after a quiet door shutting to her bedroom. She cried into her comforter for a few minutes before her telephone rang. On an end table, beside her bed, sat a blue telephone her mother bought for her to talk to her friends. She picked up the curly wired telephone, waiting for the other person to greet her.

"Lucy? Hello, Lucy?"

She sniffled on her end, letting him know she was there.

"Are you okay? You ran out on me and I tried running after you, but you were too fast."

She kept quiet, shutting her eyes tightly to seal her tears behind her eyelids. She didn't want to cry, anymore.

"I just wanted to tell you that I just want to thank you for being my muse and the only girl whose ever made me love and hate at the same time. I've come to terms with the fact you love Charlie Brown now, and I am going to move on. I hope you two have a good relationship... Bye, Lucy."

She opened her eyes to the sound of the end tone, and the painful tears running down her cheeks. She dropped the phone in front of her, and felt as if she wasn't breathing through her tears.

She would cry for years to come, and move before graduating with her friends. Only three knew of her plan to captivate Schroeder, and they never told anyone else. Schroeder didn't find another muse as soon as he hoped to, but forbade himself to love his friend's former love. Lucy regretted every decision she ever made to fool Charlie Brown in the hopes of receiving a confession from her true love, Schroeder, and she moved with the burden of pretending to be happy finally off her shoulders.

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**_This story is inspired by, "Better that We Break" by Maroon 5._**

**_Have a good day!_**


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